Canada Soccer announced on Friday that the women's national team has added two matches to its schedule ahead of the Tokyo Olympics this Summer. As part of an Olympic tune-up camp in Cartagena, Spain, Canada will take on the Czech Republic on Friday, June 11 (11 a.m. ET/8 a.m. PT), followed by Brazil on Monday, June 14 (3 p.m. ET/12 p.m. PT). These will be Canada's final friendly matches before heading to Japan for the Olympic Games, which will kick off on July 21. Canada has never played the Czech Republic before in a women's international match, but they're currently ranked 27th in the FIFA world rankings (while Canada sits in eighth). Brazil was one of Canada's opponents in February at the SheBelieves Cup, where Les Rouges fell 2-0 to the Brazilians, who currently sit seventh in the world rankings. In recent memory, Canada defeated Brazil in the bronze medal match of the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

RELATED READING: 4 selection questions facing CanWNT ahead of Tokyo 2020 || 3 takeaways from CanWNT’s two-match British camp

"This camp will provide us with similar conditions to what we will face in an Olympics, with two very different opponents within a three-day window, so it is a great opportunity to see how we cope in those circumstances as well as in the heat," said Canada coach Bev Priestman. "Another two games under our belt before the Tokyo Olympic Games is critical and again will provide another opportunity to assess players, test and develop player partnerships, and build on the work we have done to date. With more players in season now, I’m excited to see how players come in more and more ready for Tokyo and hope we can build on a successful April window." The most recent international window saw Canada play a pair of friendlies against Wales and England, both of whom Canada defeated (3-0 and 2-0, respectively). They'll see players from both teams again at the Olympics when they take on Great Britain (as well as Japan and Chile) in the group stage.

Continue reading...